Don't Go Gently
by Cori Shadowfang
Summary: Sora wasn't dead, she kept saying; he was just missing. (But she wasn't fooling anyone, not even herself.)


Kairi stood outside Sora's house and wondered why, _why _she'd insisted on coming here.

(She could remember the conversation clearly, though. "I should be the one to tell her."

Riku had given her a look that suggested he'd thought otherwise. "You don't have to."

"I was closest. I was _there_." _It's my fault._ "I should tell her."

And Riku had still looked like he'd wanted to argue, but he pulled away with a sigh, looking forlorn and tired. He looked like that a lot lately.)

But now she was here, standing in front of the door, wringing her hands and biting her lip, unable to bring herself to even knock. _You could just go in, _some voice whispered. _You and Riku spent most of your childhood running in and out of here without asking. I'm sure Hikari wouldn't mind now._

Kairi lifted her hand, took a deep breath, and knocked once.

Bustling sounded behind the door. Something sounded like it toppled.

_I can't do this._

But then the door was swinging open, Hikari releasing a breathless, "Sor—" before she actually seemed to notice Kairi. She stared a few moments, blinking blankly, and Kairi tensed, expecting her eyes to darken in disappointment, or to be sent away in frustrated anger.

(If she looked close enough, did she see the guilt hidden in Kairi's face?)

But then Hikari's shoulders relaxed and her mouth softened in a smile. "Kairi," she said, and if she didn't sound as relieved as she had when she'd been about to say Sora's name, her voice was no less warm. She opened her arms for a hug, which Kairi accepted stiffly. Hikari pulled away, holding her arms gently, and her expression drifted slightly towards concern. "Come inside."

It was an order more than an invitation, and so Kairi obeyed, stepping into the hallway and allowing herself to be guided to the living.

Hikari settled her on the couch, bustling towards the kitchen. Kairi's eyes drifted over the familiar pictures lining the mantle and desks, the fishbone carvings Sora's father had made when he was still alive, the surfboard Sora had _begged _for sitting unused in a corner. The couch was the same as it always was, a dull green with an old knitted blanket thrown over the top, and Kairi found herself picking at one of the threads.

Clanging sounded in the kitchen. "Sorry it's a mess, dear!" Hikari shouted.

(_It's not, _Kairi, thought, because she still remembered Sora's propensity for tracking in sand from the beach and dropping shells and sea glass and shark's teeth onto the tables to sort them, his tendency to just drop his beach ware and towels in the hallway and Hikari's shouts of, "Sora! Pick up after yourself!")

Hikari poked her head into the room, asking, "Is tea alright, dear?"

"I—yes, that's fine."

Hikari smiled, but it seemed tense, and she disappeared back into the kitchen.

In the relative silence, Kairi had the time to consider what she was going to say. She didn't really remember much about what happened, or coming back, despite what she'd told Riku—she knew Riku had found her, crying and hardly moving, on the Paopu Tree, and had taken her home early. (She vaguely remembered begging him to stay the night with her, because she couldn't be alone, she _couldn't_, and Riku had looked guilty and like he was about to say yes until his Gummiphone had buzzed, and he'd sighed and pulled away.) She knew Riku hadn't told anyone anything, but the island had been abuzz about her return.

_Three days, _her mind supplied. It felt like an eternity.

Hikari appeared, carefully carrying two mugs. "I haven't had guests in a while," she said sheepishly, setting one in front of Kairi with a quiet clack.

"Not even Claire?" She took a careful sip.

"No, no, she's been busy. Besides, if I'm going to see people, I usually go to their house anymore." _This house is too empty, _remained unspoken, but the words hung in the room like ghosts.

Kairi cleared her throat and set her mug down. "I'm here about Sora."

Was she imagining it when Hikari's breath caught? "I wondered as much," the older woman murmured, brushing aside a lock of brown hair that had escaped her bun. "Riku told me that you'd gone missing."

(_Missing _felt like a Keyblade striking her back, she hadn't been _missing, _she'd been—)

"That's right. And—and he told you Sora went to find me, right?"

"Yes." Hikari looked into her mug, stirring the tea absently. "It's alright, dear."

Kairi stiffened. Her fingers tightened around the mug. (So what if it was too hot? If it weren't for her, Sora wouldn't—) "What do you mean?"

Hikari smiled gently, but she still didn't lift her eyes. "You came back a few days ago. Sora didn't. I know what that means."

"He's just missing," Kairi said in a rush, slamming the mug hard enough that some tea spilt onto the coffee table. "Whatever he did to get me back—it did something to him. But he's still out there. I know it."

(Some part of her whispered, _Is he missing like you were?_)

"Kairi."

She might've argued further, but Hikari's tone gave her pause.

The older woman sighed, her shoulders falling, and suddenly Kairi regretted doing this, maybe she should've just let Riku handle it, he'd been handling everything pretty well—

(But she knew that wasn't true. She'd seen the heavy slump to his shoulders, the shadows under his eyes and how he'd pour tireless over books on magic, how he'd almost start crying and then blink away the tears and continue reading. She wondered when he'd leave her behind again.)

Hikari continued, "I'm tired of being given false hope." She removed her spoon and tapped it against her mug. "I don't blame you. I know this isn't your fault—any of you. But it's hard to watch your child run off into danger again and again, knowing they might not come back. At some point you have to come to grips with the reality that you might lose him."

Kairi forced herself to inhale slowly, hold it, and exhale just as carefully. She could feel her eyes burning, and she didn't want to cry.

"He might be alright—but I've seen the way you and Riku have been after you came back." She finally tilted her head upwards to give her a gentle look. "You wouldn't leave your house for an entire day."

Kairi stood abruptly. "Sora's fine," she said, and if it was a little clipped, well, she wasn't going to worry about it now. "He's just missing. I wanted to tell you that myself, since—since it happened because he rescued me. Riku's going to go and find him. Soon, probably. That's all."

Hikari sighed and shook her head, but her eyes were still gentle.

Kairi offered a stiff bow. "Thank you for the tea." She left, feeling like the ghosts in the house were watching her all the way out the door.

**-Kairi **had forgotten about school until her father had presented her with a uniform. "First day," he'd said, smiling sheepishly.

(Kairi had taken the uniform and tried it on, and it was weird how _normal _it had seemed, after everything. She might've stared at her reflection blankly until the day had ended if Naminé hadn't burst in, panicking about her schedule and comparing it to Kairi's and worrying about the fact that it was different, and Kairi forced herself to relax and worked to calm her newfound sister down.)

When she'd entered the classroom, she'd stiffened, and blurted without thinking, "That's _Sora's _desk."

The boy who was sitting there (he had the same brown hair, but it was flat, and his face was too wide, the clothes all wrong) gave her a puzzled look. "No? It says right on the seating chart that this is mine."

Someone tugged on Kairi's sleeve, and Kairi looked down to see Selphie. "New school year, remember?"

Kairi nodded, face heating. She checked the seating chart herself, trying not to feel like a dozen pairs of eyes were staring at her, making the hair on the back of her neck lift. She walked stiffly between the rows and desks and slid into her own, refusing to lift her head and look at anyone.

(How could she expect anyone to plan for someone who'd been gone for years? Maybe Sora had been _missing_ to the islands for longer than a few weeks.)

The room grew abruptly quiet, and Kairi looked up to see Riku hovering at the front of the classroom. She frowned in confusion, until she remembered: Riku had been gone, too. Riku rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, then lowered it to tug awkwardly at his school uniform. Whispers gradually started, and Kairi caught snippets of, "Riku?" and "Where's he been?" Riku seemed to sink into himself, seeming so much more out of place than he did when he was wielding a Keyblade.

Kairi's frown deepened and she started to stand. Halfway up she hesitated. _Does he want defending? _she wondered. _And how am I supposed to do it? He's not quite the same person he was two years ago. Neither am I._

(She still remembered that night she'd come back, when he'd left her to face her demons on her own.)

She sat back down.

The teacher entered a few moments later, and seemed almost as surprised to see Riku as the students did. She recovered much quickly, however, muttering something about, "Administration never tells us anything." She cleared her throat. "Riku, I believe there's an empty desk behind Tidus."

He nodded and moved to the back of the class, seeming to shrink away from the desks.

"Now, as for the rest of you." Their teacher planted her hands on her desk, giving them stern looks. "I don't want to hear that any of you have been harassing each other. That includes Riku _and _Kairi."

Her skin prickled as eyes turned her way.

"I know they've been gone a while, but what happened is their own business leave them be." With a final sweep around the room, she lifted the seating chart for roll call.

Kairi released a heavy breath. She turned, looking at Riku.

He caught her eye and flashed an embarrassed, almost-sad smile.

She allowed herself to smile back.

Homeroom passed quickly, and Kairi had just finished packing up her supplies, scrambling for her schedule to try and figure out what class she had next, when her teacher said, "Kairi. A moment?"

(She didn't _want _to give her a moment, because she knew what her teacher was going to talk about, and Sora _was just missing_, didn't anyone understand that?)

She took a deep breath and smiled. "Yes?"

The corners of her teacher's mouth were downturned slightly. "I may not know all the details, but I understand that you and Riku must still be struggling a great deal. If you ever need anyone to talk to—"

"That's alright," Kairi said, a little too quickly, throwing her backpack haphazardly over her shoulder.

Her teacher didn't look entirely convinced. "If you're sure. Just know that we have counselors for a reason. Use them."

Kairi knew she was just trying to be nice (she just didn't understand), so she gave a nod and forced herself to smile, and she squeezed past without further incident.

In small schools, as with small towns, news doesn't take long to travel. It was especially true when grade levels often mixed in classes to help fill them, and soon all Kairi could hear was people whispering _Riku _or _Kairi _with the occasional question of _Sora? _and then someone would shush them quickly and glance her way.

She'd tried to catch Riku at lunch, but found him already surrounded by students. "Is it true?" one was asking. "Did you really travel the world in a raft?"

"No? Who even told you—"

"Sora said you guys had this weird sword-key-thing."

"Keyblade."

"Where _is _Sora?"

"Dude." Someone clocked him.

Riku's eyes had gone wide, and his breath had hitched.

(He hadn't noticed Kairi yet, and if maybe Kairi had considered trying to get through before, to talk to him, the mention of Sora had left her frozen, because if she saved Riku from the question then they'd all _know_, they'd see her and realize it was her fault that Sora wasn't here, that Sora was _gone—_

So she stayed silent.)

"He's—something happened. He can't be here right now."

There was some discontented mumbling, but they seemed to understand by the stubborn set of Riku's jaw that he wasn't going to budge, and conversation moved on to other things.

Kairi turned and left to find Naminé, wondering why her mouth tasted like bile and her chest felt heavy.

**-The **island had never felt small until she'd come back. Now, the buildings felt claustrophobic, the people too-familiar and yet not familiar enough, each day blurring into each other with the same _normalness _that somehow just didn't feel right after Xeh—after everything, and she desperately wanted to leave for a little while because she just _couldn't breathe._

She'd made the mistake of texting this to Lea, because the next thing she knew he'd arrived with a Gummi ship at her school.

"Axel, what are you doing?" she asked, exasperated, ignoring the gaping mouths and wide eyes surrounding them.

"Well, hello to you, too," Lea drawled, surveying the area. "Man, no wonder you guys wanted to leave. This place is tiny." He fixed his eyes on her. "So? We going?"

Kairi hesitated, and maybe there was a part of her that still remembered the _last _time Lea had come to find her on Destiny Islands, but she _needed _to get away for a while, so she walked into the Gummi ship with Lea in tow. "No Isa? Or Roxas and Xion?"

"They'll meet us there. I didn't figure they'd be too anxious to come back after—well."

Kairi ignored the comment, and was infinitely grateful when Lea continued, "Anyway, how's Naminé?"

Finally, _finally _something Kairi could talk about without guilt, and when she smiled it felt right. "She's great! She was really nervous about school at first, but she settled in quickly. She's joined art club."

"Really? Never would've pegged her for the type."

Kairi shoved him, and he laughed. "You know," Kairi said, "if you'd given me a little warning, I might've been able to invite her, too."

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Ah. Whoops." Abruptly his hand returned to the wheel, steering them around a Heartless that had gotten to close for comfort.

_Speaking of._ She pulled out her Gummiphone and sent a quick text. _With Axel. Going to Twilight Town for a bit. Need anything?_

A few moments later her phone dinged. _I could use some more colored pencils, if you have the time. Mine keep disappearing. Have fun!_

Kairi smiled and tucked the phone back in her pocket.

After a while the indigo expanse of space faded into the golden orange glow of Twilight Town's sunset. Lea steered them to an open area where three figures stood waiting. He waved in greeting.

Isa gave him a long-suffering sigh. "Must you always be so impulsive?"

Kairi asked, "You didn't tell _them_, either?"

"He did," Xion said, looking like she was fighting back a grin, "but it was mostly, 'Taking the Gummi ship. Be back in a second.'"

"See? I told you."

Isa said, "That hardly counts," but his smile offset his words.

Kairi snuck a glance at Roxas. The boy was smiling, but there was a tension around his eyes, an edge to his grin that somehow felt familiar.

(She wondered if, should she look hard enough, she'd see anything of Sora. She wondered if maybe visiting had been a bad idea, after all.)

They wandered around Twilight Town, dipping in and out of shops. Roxas—who'd been quiet at first, keeping a careful distance between himself and Kairi—brightened a little when they ran into Hayner, Pence, and Olette and was encouraged to show off some of his skateboarding tricks. Hayner quickly turned it into a competition.

"Show him how it's done, Roxas!"

"Hey, I thought you guys were on _my _side!"

They stopped by the bistro, and conversation eased, Lea gesturing wildly about some crazy story and Xion asking about Naminé, Roxas interjecting occasionally to ask questions of his own. (His face was relaxed, but there were still dark shadows under his eyes, something hiding there that Kairi didn't want to look too closely at.) At the mention of Naminé, Kairi asked about an art supplies store, and Xion was happy to lead her to one.

At some point Kairi realized that she was flashing real smiles instead of fake ones, and that the suffocating feeling that had followed her the last few weeks was slowly slipping away.

(She also knew the day was ending, and she'd need to get back home soon—it was already night on Destiny Islands—and a part of her dug her feet in to stall, because she couldn't go back, not yet, couldn't stand the pitying looks and normal monotony and the space between her and Riku where Sora had once stood.)

Lea extended a stick of ice cream in front of her nose, startling her out of her thoughts. "Ice cream?"

"The icing on the cake," he said with a grin.

Roxas and Xion snorted, and Kairi had the feeling there was some sort of inside joke she was missing. She accepted the ice cream, and Lea led the way up to the clock tower.

They settled into their spots, Lea making a swipe at Isa's ice cream that missed, Roxas and Xion laughing at his attempts. Kairi sat uncertainly on Xion's other side, trying not to think about how far down the ground was. She turned her attention to the sunset, only half-listening to the conversation beside her. Her ice cream dripped onto her knees.

(She wondered if maybe they'd be willing to have her another day—it wouldn't hurt that much to miss school, Sora and Riku had missed so much, after all, and they were going to be missing more, she could take some time—)

Someone nudged her. "Kairi?"

Kairi blinked and looked at Xion.

"Are you okay? Your ice cream's melting?"

"Yeah—yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking." She took a bite of her ice cream and absently dabbed at one of the sticky spots on her knees. "Sora would've loved this."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Roxas stiffen.

She wondered if she'd said something wrong, but Xion smiled easily. "Yeah, I guess he would've."

"Maybe he could come up here, too, after he comes back." She thought of bringing him and Riku up here, of bantering and hanging out like they used to (like the family she was visiting was doing now) and smiled a little.

"He's not coming back."

The words were quiet, with a little edge to them, and came from Xion's right. Kairi blinked at Roxas, leaning forward to get a better look at him. "What do you mean? Of course he is. Riku's going to find him."

"With the Power of Waking?" Roxas's fingers tightened around his ice cream stick.

The world had gone strangely quiet. A part of Kairi felt like she shouldn't continue, but the rest felt like she could clear up the misconception. "No, or he'll just go missing, too. He's going to find a different way."

"Missing?"

She didn't miss the edge to Roxas's words, the hunch to his shoulders, but the words made an old, frustrated anger bubble up inside her. "Yes. Sora's just missing, and when he comes home—"

"He's _dead_, Kairi!" Roxas turned on her, face contorted in grief and anger and a hopelessness that looked almost too familiar.

(And looking at his face, at the furious hardening of his eyes and the snarl twisting his lips and the frustrated tears running down his face, Kairi wondered how anyone had ever thought he looked like Sora.)

"Roxas," Xion said, lifting a hand.

"Hey now," Lea added, almost simultaneously.

But Roxas, propelled by anger or grief or some other emotion, barreled onward. "It's like there's the hole in my chest. I used to feel him, but he's just not there anymore. He's _gone_."

Kairi reeled, floundering to grasp the anger from before, hoping to ground herself on some sort of solid conviction. "That's—that just means you miss him, it's what everyone's feeling—"

"_It's not the same._" He shook his head, but his fingers found Xion's and squeezed, his free hand touching Lea's on his shoulder. "I'm his Nobody. I've always felt him, even when I didn't _know_ it was him, but I don't feel it anymore. And it's not fair, but what are we supposed to do? Without the Power of Waking—he's _gone_, Kairi."

Kairi wasn't sure how to answer that because she hadn't found an answer herself, and so she looked helplessly at Lea.

Lea frowned, shifting a little uncomfortably. "I think maybe I should take you home, Kairi."

She nodded, uncertain about what else to do, and left Roxas there with Xion and Isa.

The walk back to the Gummi ship was quiet. Lea kept paced with her, his attention occasionally flicking her way. "Are you alright?" he asked finally.

"Fine," she said, a realized she might've been a bit more curt than intended. She softened her voice and added, "I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's not your fault. We've all been dealing with it in different ways." Lea shrugged, his head tilted skyward. "Roxas—well, he doesn't handle grief well. He's always needed to take it out on something. It's nothing really to do with you." He paused, looking like he was about to say something, then sighed instead.

They didn't speak again until they arrived back at Destiny Islands. Lea called, "Hey, Kairi, listen."

She stopped as she was about to get off the Gummi ship, already feeling the crushing weight on the island folding around her, tugging to pull her down, down, down into a life that felt almost too normal and people who had no idea about what they'd done or seen.

"Just be careful, alright? I know what it's like to get so wrapped up in losing someone that you end up hurting yourself. And others." He met her eyes. "I don't want the same to happen to you, alright?"

Kairi swallowed and curled her fists slowly. She nodded, suddenly unable to speak, and stepped onto the sand of the island.

Roxas texted her an apology that night, but she couldn't bring herself to respond.

**-"Do **you think Sora's dead?"

Naminé started at her question. She lowered her drawing pad slowly. "Why do you ask?"

"Roxas does." Kairi gripped her Gummi phone, her attention flicking towards the window. From here she could see the beach, the waves brushing languidly across the golden sand. "I think Axel and Xion do, too, but they won't say anything about it."

Naminé sighed and absently brushed some pencil shavings off the page. "I think," she said carefully, "that if Roxas believes so, there's a good chance it's true. He _was_ his Nobody."

"I asked what _you _thought."

Naminé sighed again. "Does it matter what I think? You're convinced of one thing already, whether I tell you or not."

"He's not dead," Kairi said firmly.

"See?"

Kairi slumped. "I'm sorry. I really _do _want to know your answer. I've just—I have to know what everyone else thinks."

Naminé gave her a tired look. Her eyes turned sad, and she clutched her sketchbook a little tighter. "Yes," she murmured. "I think so."

The rest of the afternoon passed in silence, the only sound the quiet scratch of Naminé's pencil.

**-Maybe **a week later Riku knocked on their door.

Kairi met him there, noted the bag slung over his shoulder, and asked, "You're leaving."

She'd phrased it as a statement, not a question, but Riku answered anyway. "Yeah." He shifted the bag a little. "I'm going to bring him home. I promise."

"Do you think you can?"

She hadn't meant to ask the question, and Riku gave her a long look before saying, "Yeah."

(Sora had brought _her_ home, after all.)

Kairi nodded. "Stay safe."

"I will." He smiled, but it looked tired and guilty and not quite right on his face. "Don't worry. We've been doing this a while, after all."

(She didn't ask him to take her with him, and he didn't offer. Maybe, a lifetime ago, he would've, and maybe, a lifetime ago, she would've accepted. Now she just returned to her empty room and sat on her bed and wondered why her chest felt so hollow.)

**-Water **lapped against her cheek, and for a moment Kairi thought she'd fallen asleep on the beach. But when she opened her eyes a wide expanse of water and clear, blue sky stretched as far as the eye could see.

(She remembered this place, vaguely, somewhere in her scattered memories after Xehanort had attacked her with his Keyblade. It had felt like pieces of her were breaking away, pulled into that sky, and she'd been so confused and afraid but knew she _couldn't_ go, because Sora and Riku would be worried about her—

And then warm hands had found her, and a familiar voice had whispered, "I found you," but had sounded as sad as it had relieved.)

It felt like she was walking in place, her footsteps making quiet splashing sounds as she moved. Occasionally she caught glimpses of stars, barely there, but looking at them too long gave her a headache, and so she kept going.

Then—

"Kairi?"

Her heart leapt into her throat. Her words caught behind it, and she sucked in a shaky, ragged breath.

Sora stood in front of her, looking like he'd been made from the water that pooled under their feet, his mouth parted in a surprised gasp.

Kairi crossed the distance and crashed into him. He didn't _feel _like he was made of water; he felt warm, solid, _real_, and she sobbed into his shoulder, sobbed for the first time since he'd brought her back to the islands, sobbed because he was _here_, and he was _okay._

Arms slowly wrapped around her and his chest shook with a quiet laugh. "Right. Chirithy mentioned that people could cross over in their dreams sometimes. For a moment, I thought…" He trailed away and hugged her tighter. "It's good to see you, Kairi."

"Where have you been?"

"I've, uh." She felt him shrug. "Away?"

She sobbed harder. "I'm sorry," she wailed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I thought I could do it, I'm sorry—"

"Hey. _Hey._" Sora pulled away for a moment, and Kairi wanted to protest, wanted to drag him closer, but he held her arms gently and gave her a small smile. He wiped a tear away. "This? This isn't your fault. It was _Xehanort's_, for—for making you come here in the first place. And I _chose _to come after you. No one made me."

"I should've been stronger."

"It was your first real fight! I mean, we kind of did just throw you into a war headfirst." He smiled, awkward and sad.

(She wondered if he blamed himself for what happened to her, too.)

"Riku's coming to find you," she said.

"What?!"

"Not—not the way you found me." She smiled a little.

Sora relaxed. "Whew. That's a relief." He gave the world around him a glance. "Guess I should wait here a while longer, then."

"Were you going to leave?"

Sora looked like he wasn't sure how to answer. His attention shifted skyward, and Kairi was suddenly aware of how it seemed like the world was growing brighter. Sora's shoulders slumped. "I think it's time for you to wake up."

Kairi clung to Sora's arms tighter. "I don't want to."

Sora gently detached himself from her. "It's okay, Kairi."

The light grew brighter. Kairi reached for him, but it felt suddenly like her limbs were made of lead, the water beneath slowly dragging her down. "Sora!"

Sora smiled, and tapped his chest, and his lips moved in silent words.

"Sora—Sora, I can't hear you, what are you—"

And then she was falling, the waves crashing over her head and dragging her down.

**-When **Ven showed up on Kairi's doorstep one morning, she could only stare. Ven rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh. Hey?"

The little cat Dream Eater beside him—Chirithy, if she remembered correctly—sighed and shook their head. "Oh, boy."

"What are you doing here?" Kairi asked, wondering distantly if maybe Naminé had asked him to come.

"I wanted to visit."

Kairi stiffened, waiting for the same platitudes that she'd come to expect from her classmates, for the same sad looks she'd get from Lea and Naminé.

But Ven didn't look sad. A bit awkward and uncertain, maybe, but his eyes were bright. "The Destiny Islands were Sora's home. I kind of saw them when I was in Sora's heart, but I didn't really _see_ them, you know? I was curious."

Curiosity got the better of her, and she asked, "So, why come to my house, instead of Sora's?"

Ven made a face, and it reminded her so much of Sora that she had to take a moment to focus again. "It's _weird_. Like, I'd have to explain how I know her and how I'm connected to Sora, and, uh—there's no good way to explain any of that without freaking her out."

Kairi gave a small smile. "I suppose not."

"I'd like to explore the island, if you don't mind showing me around? Naminé, too, if she wants to come." He smiled brightly. "I never really got the chance to really meet you guys, either. I mean, I kind of did, but not—you know."

Kairi laughed. "It's fine." She stepped out of the house and closed the door quietly. "Naminé's spending the day with some friends from school, though. I hope you don't mind if it's just me."

"Of course not!"

As Kairi led Ven around the island, he'd alternate between talking to her, asking questions about whatever they saw, and occasionally drifting away to check something out, much to Chirithy's chagrin. His enthusiasm was contagious, and the heaviness that had settled in since Riku left (since Sora left) eased a little.

Ven looked towards the Play Island when they reached the beach. "Can we row out there?" he asked. "I know we visited once, when…" He trailed away, suddenly looking guilty.

_Here it comes,_ Kairi thought, stiffening. She braced herself and said, tersely, "He's not dead."

"I know."

She whipped towards him. He didn't look like he was patronizing her; his eyes were still bright, eyebrows furrowed in faint confusion, his mouth pulling down in a confused frown. He looked sincere.

(It didn't matter that Chirithy seemed strangely subdued, looking down at their pouch with their eyes scrunched into little slits. If someone else believed it—if someone else thought that Sora was just _missing_, then—

Maybe it was true.)

Maybe it was that confirmation that gave her the courage to say it, or maybe it was how much Ven reminded her of Sora, or maybe it was just the restless emptiness in her chest that finally spilled over: "Want to go look for him?"

Ven's expression morphed into surprise. "Isn't Riku looking already?"

"Two groups are better than one." She glanced back towards the Play Island. "And I can't sit around waiting anymore."

The surprise faded into something more serious. Ven seemed to consider it a few moments, his hand resting over his heart. "I'll have to let Terra and Aqua know," he said. "If I disappear after we all just got back, they'll be worried."

Kairi whipped towards him, and for the first time in a long time, her chest didn't feel quite so empty.

Ven grinned, and it was as fierce as it was bright. "Let's go find him."

* * *

…_Ven and Kairi team up when?_

_(This is cross-posted on Tumblr under the username cori-writes-fanfic, by the way. Feel free to stop by and say 'hi'!)_


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